


The Common Folk

by LiteratureWork



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Crossover, I made this a long time ago and just remembered it was a thing, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, repost
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:07:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22918957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiteratureWork/pseuds/LiteratureWork
Summary: Edward becomes an Amestrian representative to teach the Japanese politicians about alchemy. Unfortunately they don't like it that he isn't enrolled in a school and has little prior formal education. In order to continue his job, Edward is enrolled into highschool. How will he fair in a new country? Please Review.
Comments: 23
Kudos: 132





	1. A Mission

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this story during writer's block on another fic. It was posted on Fanfic.net. For some reason I remembered this thing existed? I do not know if it will be continued or not but I am fixing it up now for the fun of it. Enjoy.

**_The Common Folk_ **

_ Chapter One _

A Mission

Hikaru and Karu were slowly making their way from the third music room that stood abandoned by all musicians. To their knowledge it was only filled by a group of students known as the host club, which they too were a part of. Though the host club was scheduled to meet after school, Tamaki, the king of the club and maybe even the school, ordered for a meeting during lunch period that day to go over and set up their next big project. They got the job of retrieving the decorations that Kyoya had gotten for their upcoming party. The postmen got the buildings of Ouran Highschool mixed up and had delivered it to the Admissions building instead of the Music building. Though the twins found it rather annoying that they had to walk the long distance across campus just to get the box of supplies, they were not upset. Ouran school was big after all, challenging the size of universities even, so the twins understood how someone could get easily confused. Many new students stumbled around the large ornate campus lost which was exactly how Haruhi had stumbled into their mitts. Since Haruhi was pretty smart, it would surely happen to someone else.

As they crossed the courtyard towards the music building, the two of them caught sight of a couple people walking out of the Admissions building. Usually, the twins wouldn’t pay any attention to people walking around the school as most of them were students and were probably meeting with teachers, however, these couple weren’t in uniform. They were in a uniform per se, one that looked slightly like a militia, but definitely not the soft blue of the school. The two of them didn’t recognize it being from Japan at all, as it looked a little too European, yet something should have stood out to identify it.

“Who do you think they are?” Hikaru questioned as they slowly resumed their pace towards the music building, their eyes still trained on the strangers. Karu shrugged as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Maybe they are taking a tour,” his twin suggested. They paused for a moment as they watched the two strangers talk inaudibly to each other. The officers soon saluted each other, rather reluctantly it seemed from the shorter one’s side, and parted ways. One of them went back into the Admissions building while the other paced unknowingly around the large court yard, looking down at a paper in their hands. Quite frankly, Hikaru would have guessed that they looked lost.

“Do you think we should help him?” he mumbled curiously to his brother. The two of them just stared at the lost soul of a soldier as he paced around the central decorative fountain head deep in reading the paper. They would have guessed it to be a map as he was constantly looking up every now and then to grasp a point of his location. However, just as they were going to decide on an action to take, the navy clad officer folded up the paper and marched towards the Academics building without another glance. The twins shrugged lightly as the bell rang and they continued to make their way to music room three where everyone was undoubtedly waiting for them.

…………

Edward groaned to himself as he set his pencil down. It seemed to be smoking at the tip from where he was constantly grinding it into the application papers. It felt like he was filling out an encyclopedia the way his hand throbbed. Eventually, he had to switch over to the automail one since his left arm was so sore otherwise. He brushed off all of the eraser marks from the large packet and stuffed it back into the envelope from whence it came before handing it off to the overseer Admissions woman. After he picked up his military hat and gloves and slipped them on, Edward frowned and stumbled towards the door. He was now officially enrolled into the Ouran program against his will. Granted the Amestrian government gave him the option of what school he wanted to go to but considering he didn’t even want to go to school in the first place and all of the choices he had were rich private schools, he wanted to murder someone. The Fuhrer had made the decision that Amestris needed Alliance ship with the strange far away country of Japan. They were going to help educate Japan in the knowledge of Alchemy in promise of their aid if Drachma, or any other hostile country, attacked. Edward of all people was assigned to this mission and unfortunately for him, the Japanese government didn’t want anything to do with a child that wasn’t at least in school or graduated thereof. Edward was therefore, forced with the torturing task of filling out the application into the Ouran Academy. When he looked at the price of the schooling there for even a single semester, he wanted to hurdle himself out of the window before the Colonel reminded him that Amestris was willingly going to pay for it even though it would come at the cost of cutting his research pension by a quarter. Even then, that was only if he got the honour’s scholarship. There was only so much the government was going to do for a fifteen year old State Alchemist after all.

Edward walked back out of the Academics building where they willingly set off a rather large study room in order to let him fill out his application in peace. He had a difficult time finding the building let alone the room considering the size of the school. He would have confused it for a government complex rather than a school as it reminded him of Eastern Headquarters. The Colonel was waiting for him outside, being his escort on the mission just until Edward got accepted into the school officially. Edward saluted him as he got outside.

“I guess you can leave now,” Edward muttered. Roy raised an eyebrow as they both turned towards the main entrance of the school which was decorated with an elaborate golden gate and triumph arch over it. Edward thought it rather over excessive to have a school so flamboyant with their money.

“Not until we get your uniform,” the Colonel grumbled even more upset with this entire thing than Edward seemed to be.

“I don’t need you to fucking dress me,” Edward snipped back grumpily, his head hurting from filling out all of that paperwork. His commanding officer shot him a glare and ended the blooming argument there. Edward was slightly glad because he knew he wouldn’t have won with the headache he was dawning. “Why does everything I do, need to have a uniform?”

“Because it keeps you from looking like a country bumpkin.”

“I am a country bumpkin,” Edward huffed as he tiredly massaged his temples. The Colonel rolled his eyes and they left the school’s grounds and started their walk into the city. The Administrator had given Mustang directions to a tailor who would give Edward his fittings for the uniform. They walked into rather large and intricate building, which at first glance Edward thought was a museum or government facility until he saw the mannequins in the window. There was a large waiting room with nearly everything made out of velvet or mahogany, and it was there that the Colonel took a seat with the orders to only disturb him if he had the bill.

“You aren’t even going to be spending your own money on it,” Edward growled at him.

“Then why should I also be spending my own time or energy?” the man returned with a smile. Edward was led back into the fitting room where he had a man in a black suit and tie nearly attack him with a tape measure. He nearly punched the man when he went after his automail because he was worried he might get oil stains on the clothes he was trying on. After a huge squabble and endless bickering, Edward finally had his uniform ordered and sent out for the appropriate alterations. Seeing as to what it looked like, the bright blue blazer with a tie he wanted to hang himself with, Edward hoped that it got lost in the mail or possibly butchered to death by fabric scissors. He ended up having to wake Mustang up from where jet lag had taken him on the fancy couch in order to get everything paid for. All the man did was flick his wrist, sign the check, and give one of his flashy smiles before kicking Edward out the door.

“Here,” the Colonel stated as they made it back to the school grounds and walked toward the admissions building for the umpteenth time that day. The school should be done reviewing his exam so they would just have one last stop before heading their separate ways. He handed Edward large manila folder with all his paperwork in it. Edward frowned slightly and peered into it as if checking that everything was there. “I got you and your brother an apartment little ways away, nothing too fancy. He called while you were in the exam and he is already there putting your crap away. You are going to have to take some public transportation or get yourself a bicycle or something to get to school-”

“Do I look like I ride a bicycle?” Edward asked with a smirk on his face. The Colonel frowned.

“Yes,” he stated plainly before picking up where he left off. “I looked at your schedule and you are going to have to go to the Government building every day after school but it is a shorter distance than from there to your house so you should be fine. Don’t be late, and don’t fuck up.”

“That’s the best advice you gave me my entire life, Colonel. How will I ever live without you?” Edward said without missing a drop of sarcasm as he tucked the folder underneath his arm.

“Edward, I am being serious. Learn Japanese customs and courtesies. They already are on edge because you haven’t even been to school, so don’t mess this up by being…. you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Edward retorted as he was about to open the elaborate wooden door to the school building before it was slammed open in his face. He was sent reeling backwards clutching his aching head with a curse.

“Language, Edward,” Mustang scolded him.

“I would like to hear you talking when you get a door slammed into your face!” Edward growled at him as he bent down and scooped his cap off the ground where it fell. He dusted it off and placed it back on his head square. He sent a scowl to his commanding officer and then turned to see who opened the door on him. It was two red headed twins carrying large boxes of random streamers which looked to be trimmed with gold. How much money did these people have? The two boys looked surprise, glanced at each other, and then back at him before they even attempted an apology.

“Sorry there, we didn’t see you,” they both said.

“You were here this morning, weren’t you?” the one on the left asked.

“What is up with the weird clothes?” the other on added. Edward was about to open his mouth, but the Colonel stepped forward directly in front of him.

“I am Colonel Mustang and we are from the Amestrian military and have business to attend here. Do you know where Mr. Suoh’s office is?”

“Down the right corridor and to the left,” they answered him in unison again. Mustang smiled and gave them a little bow.

“Thank you,” he replied sincerely. “Come on Fullmetal. The sooner we get you finished here, the sooner I can get back home,” the man suddenly snipped before speeding through the now empty doorway.

“Yeah, yeah,” he huffed and gave the two students a small wave before following his commanding officer.

….

Hikaru tossed the box of streamers down in front of Mori. He sent a slight glance up at him where he was trying to blow up some balloons with Honey. Their theme for the host club meeting this day was just a simple birthday party for Haruhi. They were used to throwing large elaborate parties for their friends in the Host Club, however, Haruhi was quite indifferent to really big flairs they held every few weeks. They had to calm Tamaki’s intentions of giving her an entire ball in her honor and go with a simple commoner’s party with cake and streamers. However, all of them were having quite a hard time setting everything up. Mori seemed to be the only one who could successfully tie a balloon and the cake that Honey made earlier looked more like a wedding cake than anything. Hikaru had a feeling that Tamaki had his input on that one.

“Why are you so late? It doesn’t take that long to go to the admissions building and back. What have you been doing?” Kyoya asked as he checked something off on that clipboard of his. Hikaru really wanted to know what he was writing down half the time but it was a big mystery.

“Kaoru opened the door on a soldier’s head,” Hikaru said quickly before his brother could give a nonchalant answer. Kaoru sent him a glare and slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

“Well if I were you, I would try to make sure no one is on the other side before you go swinging doors open on important people,” Kyoya scolded. He nodded his head and tucked his clipboard underneath his arm and smiled slightly. It was the only smile the boy knew how to give, one that said ‘I know something you don’t’. The twins frowned upon seeing it and glanced at each other.

“What is it that we don’t know?” they asked together in defeat.

“Nothing much. It is just that we have some visitor’s from the small yet powerful country of Amestris. I heard from my father that they were taking tours of all of the best private schools in the country,” he said smoothly.

“And why would the head of a health care unit know this?” Kaoru tested. The man shrugged and pushed his slipping glasses a little farther up on the brink of his nose.

“All schools need to collect the student’s health information and my father’s business collects them to keep records. We received a few records from the same Amestrian from different schools.”

“How do you know they were soldiers?” Honey asked honestly as he accidentally let go of another balloon, letting it jet around the room in a farting mess.

“We asked them after I apologised for slamming the door into one of their heads,” Kaoru admitted with a shrug.

“They were both wearing funny uniforms so naturally we would be curious,” Hikaru added.

“What would the military be doing looking at schools?” Takashi questioned.

“For that, I can honestly say for once that I haven’t the slightest clue,” Kyoya finally admitted. It was a rare occasion that Kyoya never even hear a rumour of the topic on hand but this seemed to be one of those times. The soldiers were an unknown.

………

Edward had taken another light tour of the school, following his class schedule so he would know where to go the next day for classes. The school was so big that he was extremely relieved to have a map. The Colonel wasn’t of much help on their search since he was flirting with almost every single rich female teacher he could find. He ended up having to drag the Colonel away from the calculus teacher as the bell rang and a whole new class was entering.

“Come on Colonel, I just want to get home,” Edward griped as he yanked the man out onto the grounds towards the main gate. The man grumbled to himself and straightened out his uniform jacket.

“You want to get home? I am the one who has to cross several countries-”

“That means you should be getting a move on then! Your ride should be here at any moment-” A horn from a car honked at them as it drove up along the road. That was Mustang’s ride. He had an afternoon ship out of Japan. If he were to make it to Xing by tomorrow he had to leave now. Upon coming to Japan, both Amestrians quickly learned of the new contraption called the airplane after one flew directly over their heads scaring the living daylights out of both of them. The Colonel nearly set it on fire. It was a very efficient way to travel, Edward had to admit, but there was no way he was ever stepping foot on one. He couldn’t help but have full faith in gravity’s ability to put things down. It also wasn’t like Amestris had any ports to begin with so in the end they were still stuck to land and water navigations. Mustang opened the doors to the sleek automobile and hopped into the passenger’s seat.

“Edward,” the man said with utmost seriousness, “remember what I said.”

“Don’t fuck up?” he chuckled lightly. “Yeah, I think I can do that. As long as you get your paperwork done for once.”

“I have Hawkeye to keep me on track.”

“And I have Alphonse,” Edward retorted. The Colonel gave a slight shrug in acceptance.

“Fair enough,” the man hummed slightly. There was a small length of silence before the Colonel and Major made their fair wells. Edward saluted him lightly but before it was returned the car was zipping frantically down the road. As the car disappeared around the corner, Edward let out a huge breath. Free at last.

……….


	2. The First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward experiences his first day at Ouran Academy and runs into a few interesting people.

**_The Common Folk_ **

Chapter Two

The First Day

“Brother,” a soft voice whispered. He gave no response and the voice came again. “Brother,” this time with slight nudge. Edward frowned and turned over in his bed, scooping up a bundle of blankets and burying himself even farther in them to block out the world.

“Brother-”

“Hmm,” Edward grumbled finally as his brother was too persistent to ignore.

“You need to get up, you have school.”

“Five more minutes,” he mumbled, stuffing his face farther into the pillow it was resting on.

“Brother, you are already late-”

“WHAT!” Edward suddenly jolted up and smacked his head off of Alphonse’s armour one. His brother was standing right over him and Edward had managed to knock his helmet off so it flew across the room. Edward grabbed the clock by his bedside and looked at it. It was already 7:30. School started at 8:00. He scrambled out of bed trying to grab all his clothes at the same time, his automail foot halfway jammed into his shoe. His school uniform was sent to the apartment just later that day with all of the alterations finished. Edward wanted to stuff it in a drawer so he didn’t have to look at it but Alphonse, who had moved everything in while Edward was out the other evening, hung it up on a hanger in the closet so it wouldn’t get wrinkled. Edward snatched it and ran with lightning speed over to the small bathroom their open apartment had. “Why didn’t you wake me? I can’t be late! The Colonel will burn me all the way from Amestris!”

“I did wake you up before but you just fell back to sleep-”

“You lie!”

“I am telling the truth,” Alphonse complained from the bedroom where he was fixing his head back on his shoulders. Edward started to button up his white school shirt with one hand while brushing his teeth with the other. He tucked in his shirt, constantly checking the time on his pocket watch.

“There is no way I am going to make it,” he huffed as he spat the toothpaste out and raced out of the bathroom. Something caught around his neck and he was suddenly yanked to the side. “Alphonse!” he exclaimed as his brother attacked him with the necktie he forgot to put on. He had already started to tie it a lot faster than Edward could have managed.

“I have your lunch made up for you and I put your uniform into your duffel bag so that you could change right at school.”

“Thanks. I saw the prices of lunch there and I can say that I would rather buy a house,” Edward huffed. He put on his blazer and slipped his white gloves over his mismatched hands. He looked at the time again from his pocket watch and nearly choked. It was 7:45. School was a good half hour walk from their apartment. It would look like he would need to run. He grabbed his messenger bag and his duffel, strapping both around his shoulders and whipped his hair up into a quick braid. “Alphonse I will call after school. Try to stay out of trouble-”

“There is a library down the road. I could go there.”

“If I find any interesting books at Ouran I will bring them back if you want,” Edward commented as he picked up one of their two sets of house keys off of the kitchen counter. Alphonse nodded his head excitedly.

“That would be great!” Edward opened the door and quickly walked out of it onto the deck what led down to ground level. They lived on the second floor. Alphonse stepped out after him and waved him off. “Edward, don’t pick on the taller students-”

“It’s their fault for being so freakishly big!” Edward yelled at him over his shoulder as he sped down the road at a full sprint, his bags swinging on his shoulder. Maybe he really should have taken the Colonel’s advice and gotten a bicycle.

…………

Edward’s first class was first year Biology. It was all the way on the third floor up the millions of marble and red carpet covered steps. He was out of breath and ready to collapse by the time he knocked on the classroom door. It was opened by an old professor who looked like she constantly had dung up her nose. The glare she sent him was small but could curdle milk in an instant. She was obviously displeased as she waited for Edward to catch his breath.

“I-I am Edward… your new student, m’am,” Edward announced as he took in a huge breath to try and level out his heart rate.

“I thought that even a commoner would want to be timely on their first day of class,” she huffed rudely. Edward frowned slightly as it caught him off guard.

“What?” he asked as if he didn’t hear her right. She looked him over. “And at least put some effort into your appearance. Act like a Class A student instead of a Class E.”

“I would like to see how anyone looks after running three miles to school,” Edward retorted. It was her turn to frown as she stepped to the side and let him in the classroom to let him in. All the seats were full of curious stares. The students looked crisp and fine cut unlike Edward who had small scars all over his face from all of the fights he got into and tan skin from being outside so long. Edward found himself subconsciously straightening out his blazer and tie as if to make himself more presentable.

“Class, this is a new Honor’s student, Mr. Edward Elric. He is from outside the country and will be staying with us for the rest of the year,” the woman announced. There was an awkward muttering around the room and the professor showed him to his seat, the only open desk in the middle of the room, before returning to the front of the class where the chalk board was covered in notes on their day’s lesson. He sat down tiredly, relieved to finally be able to rest, and set his bags down on the floor beside him. As he was rooting around in his bag for a pen and paper, he felt a tap on his shoulder from the desk behind him. He glanced behind him and froze when he saw two red heads staring at him. Oh god, not them. His brow furrowed as he quickly returned his attention back towards the front of the class, trying his best to ignore the kids. The likelihood that they were in the same class was low and he didn’t appreciate it that though the odds were against him, he still got stuck with them. Against Alphonse’s convictions, Edward would like to claim that he didn’t hold grudges easily, but that didn’t mean he had to enjoy the presence of the people who rammed his head into a two inch thick door.

“Hey,” he heard one of them say and poke him in the back again with the eraser of their pencil.

“You’re an honor’s student? A first year?”

“You look familiar,” the other one said.

“Maybe you might recognize me if I decide to slam a door open on your face,” Edward huffed underneath his breath. There was a slight pause and Edward was almost hopeful that they shut up but that wasn’t the case.

“Oh, so you were the one who was looking at all of the schools.”

“Don’t you need to graduate to join the military?”

“Why would you want to join in the first place?”

“I guess since you are a commoner it must just be a job.”

“Are you really that desperate for money?”

“Shut up!” Edward exclaimed at their fluster of questions and everyone turned towards them, including the professor. He felt a wave of dread come over him as she glared at him. He shot an angered glance back towards the two twins sitting behind him but they were pretending to look shocked like the rest of the class.

“Mr. Elric, being an honor student you must know how important it is to keep your grades up. I don’t know what type of schools you have been to before but screaming and talking in the middle of class is not accepted,” the old bird pecked at him.

“It wasn’t my fault those two devils were-”

“It wasn’t them I heard, Mr. Elric, now don’t talk back!” Edward scowled to himself and muttered an apology under his breath. She wrote something down on the board and then walked over and set the piece of chalk on his desk. He looked at it curiously and picked it up. “If you feel like interrupting the class, that must mean that you know the material already.”

Edward looked up to see that a complex genetics problem was listed on the board. He could tell that the teacher put it there specifically to trick him since the class was only on the basics. Edward started to go to work knowing that he shouldn’t have let the other students get the better of him. His scowled stayed on his face even though his mind was consumed in his work. He wasn’t even in the class for ten minutes and he was already in trouble. Hopefully the rest of the year wasn’t going to be this way or else he would be having to go to the hospital for third degree burns if the Colonel found out. He did not hesitate to fill out the question and before the teacher could even get back to her own desk he was dropping the chalk to the tray and walking back to his seat. The professor looked at his work skeptically but found herself displeased, not with his work, but with herself.

“Mr. Elric, where did you go to school before this?” she asked, her voice doused with hidden curiosity.

“I didn’t go to school before this,” Edward answered. There was a slight murmuring through the class and he heard several comments that he would have liked to tune out. Most of them dealt with the words ‘commoner’ and ‘primitive’. He sent a glare back at the twins but they seemed to be both surprised and amused. The professor frowned even more.

“Well then,” she huffed to herself. “Mr. Elric, I only asked for you to answer the question. Instead you correctly went and filled out the rest of the material for today. You will be staying after class.”

“What!” Edward exclaimed.

“I would also recommend that you learn how to keep your mouth shut, Elric. Manners might be good for you to learn.” Edward crossed his arms and slouched in his seat as the professor went back to teaching the lecture. The twins didn’t bother him for the rest of class.

…..

Edward wanted to punch the door of his locker as he tore his duffel bag out of it and trudged through the crowded hallways of Ouran. The day was finally over and Edward never wanted to return to school again after this. The biology professor, after giving him a long lecture on the culture of Japan’s elite, assigned him to a second year chemistry course instead. He didn’t know if it was because he already knew the material or because the professor didn’t want to deal with him. It was probably both. A lot of the professors as well as the students kept referring to him as the commoner as if he was a new zoo exhibit. It felt derogatory and belittling. Not only that, but the twins were in every single one of his classes and he thought it was their goal to make him get in trouble. If he wasn’t called up to the board by the professor’s on his own, the twins would find ways to make him. Even though the questions were usually easy, he was getting sick and tired of it. He definitely wasn’t going to last an entire year, let alone an entire high school career, without punching someone in the face at some point. But for today, he was just glad that he had survived.

Edward looked around the hallways for a telephone to use. It seemed like payphones were too ‘primitive’ for the school’s taste and even if they weren’t he could imagine the jacked up prices he would have to pay to use one. He eventually found one in the lower corridor of the fine arts building. It wasn’t a pay phone, just a random pearl handled rotary phone sitting on a mahogany pedestal. At least he didn’t have to pay for it. He dialed up his apartment number and waited for his brother to pick up.

“Hello?”

“Alphonse, it’s me-”

“Brother! How was your first day of school?” his younger brother’s excited voice asked him. Edward sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose tiredly. He could feel a headache coming on.

“Well, I can at least say that I survived… barely.”

“It couldn’t have been that bad! You always exaggerate things. I kind of wish that I could go to school with you but-”

“Alphonse, there is nothing at school you don’t already know. Trust me.”

“There must have been at least something you didn’t know,” Alphonse commented. Edward knew that his younger brother wanted anything to go back to school like they used to when he a toddler. Edward never counted that as schooling since it was basic work and they never actually paid attention to it anyways since they were always trying to hide alchemy books underneath their desks. But he guessed Alphonse missed being normal. Going to school was something that absolutely every child did, but they never got to. Now that Edward had the opportunity, Alphonse couldn’t go because of his armored body. Edward sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well, I guess Literature class? We have to ‘dissect’ novels as the professor likes to call it. I don’t really understand but it can’t be that different from decoding can it?” he admitted. There was silence on the other side of the line and he knew his brother was thinking it over.

“I guess not.”

“Did you go to the library today? I couldn’t go, all of them were so packed full of people I couldn’t concentrate on finding anything. Sorry, Al.”

“It’s alright, I went to the one in town but I didn’t find anything on alchemy at all! The Colonel was right, alchemy would be a big influence here. No wonder they are having you as an ambassador!”

“Yeah, equal trade I guess. Knowledge for man power. Though it doesn’t seem that Japan is too far behind. I mean, though they don’t have alchemy, they definitely have all of these strange devices.”

“Like airplanes! How do you even think they stay up?” Edward shrugged as he casually leaned against the wall.

“I don’t know, that much weight shouldn’t be able to fly,” he said, “It probably has something to do with thrust of some sort.” Edward took out his watch from his blazer pocket and looked at the time. “Look, Alphonse, I am going to have to go. I need to get to work soon and I still need to find a place in this huge ass building to get changed. I will talk to you this evening alright?”

“Alright, brother, just be careful.” Edward hung up the little phone and picked up his bags again. He turned around to return to his hunt for a bathroom or a changing room that wasn’t completely crowded with people, which he found strange that was even the case, before he was run right over from two people racing down the hallways. He was tackled to the ground in a tangled mess of limbs.

“Ow! Come on!” Edward whined as he grasped his head in his right hand.

“Sorry about that but you should really look where you are going,” he heard the dreaded two identical voices again. Of course, it was them.

“Watch where I am going? It was you who ran into me not the other way around!” Edward scolded as he pushed himself off the ground and strapped both of his bags back over his shoulder. “Can’t you two just give me a break?”

“I don’t understand what you are getting at,” the one, Hikaru as Edward learned, stiffed, crossing his arms. Edward shot him a deadly glare but he just stuck his tongue back at him mockingly. Edward dragged his hands down his face and growled to himself.

“I don’t have fucking time for this. I need to get to work,” he mumbled as he started to walk back down the hallway. The twins of course were right on his tail. The need to punch something was growing every second but he forcefully restrained himself. “Stop following me,” Edward ordered as he peered into the next bathroom he saw. It was completely filled with students like they were all attempting to skip club meetings together. He groaned to himself and shut the door to continue on his way.

“We are just so happening to go in the same direction. We can’t help it if it is the same way you are going,” they both said.

“What are you looking for anyways?” Kaoru asked.

“None of your business,” Edward sniped as he started up the staircase at the end of the corridor.

“Considering we have been here longer than you, we might be able to help.” Edward stopped in his tracks and turned around in his place to glare at the two. He looked them over and saw that they seemed to be sincerely offering to help. He hated himself for this.

“I’m trying to find a place to change. For some reason you rich people like to crowd in every single public area you can find,” Edward told them. The twins looked at each other and shrugged.

“We could take you to the music room-” they both said together.

“Why would a music room have changing rooms?”

“Well, we use it for the host club and we do have changing rooms in there since we do a lot of events,” Hikaru informed.

“I am sure Tamaki would let you use it,” Kaoru finished. Edward glanced back down at his pocket watch and saw his time running out. He still had a long travel to get to the government buildings and if he were to still have hope of making it on the next bus out of there, he needed to find a place to change fast. He couldn’t show up at the facility in his school clothes. They would think he was a tourist and wouldn’t let him past the gate. He sighed and pocketed his watch with a dull nod of his head.

“Fine,” he muttered, “lead the way.” The twins dragged him all the way up to the top floor of the south wing and towards the corridor where the music rooms were lined up. He could hear sweet music coming out from the doors; piano, violin, and even the french horn were among just a few of the instruments being played. However, the third room stood silent as if it was abandoned. Edward had a feeling of dread in his gut and he was almost second guessing the twins help at this point. They pushed open the door and walked in. Edward gaped as he saw the immense crowd of people in the room staring at him.

“I thought you said no one would be in here,” Edward hissed as he noticed all of the furnishings were seated with female guests with a few select hosts. Now he knew why they called it a host club. The two red heads waved at one of the blond upperclassmen and the man strode over with such grace Edward almost thought he was floating over the floors.

“Tamaki, we brought-”

“Edward Elric, what a pleasant surprise. I have heard so much about you,” the man smiled, taking a little bow. The man stepped so close to him, Edward ended up taking a good two steps back to even get within personal distance. “You know we have an honor’s student of our own as well, but he couldn’t make it today. How drastic it is that the young will always go first.”

“Boss, it is only allergies. Haruhi should be back soon,” Kaoru interrupted but the man didn’t seem to pay attention.

“Nevertheless, will you be joining our club this afternoon? We could use your company-”

“No, I don’t have time. I really just need to find a place to get changed. I need to go to work,” Edward said, giving the twins a good glare as he needed to take another step back from the hovering man.

“Work, but that’s for the common folk, my dear honor’s student!”

“It’s for anyone who needs to make a living,” Edward commented underneath his breath.

“Make a living? You poor, poor proletarian! Having to slave all day just to earn your dinner. Not only that, but risk your life in such a demanding profession as the military. What hardship you must see. How did you ever come to such a career?” the man dramatized and draped his arm around Edward’s shoulder, pulling him closer.

“None of your business,” Edward growled. “Now get off!”

“You should stay here for the day and forget about your worries for a bit, and have a grand time. Learn to relax. Learn to enjoy another fellow’s company,” he said in an insinuating tone and Edward just raised his eyebrow at the man’s antics. “You should know that not many males come to our club, even though they are surely welcome. You are obviously young, free willed, and adventurous. Undoubtedly you are on your own journey to find what every man can only dream about-”

“And what is that?” Edward seethed, his gloved fist clenching tightly. He didn’t have time for this.

“Love of course, my young plebeian. And you must have been so desperate to find it you came here of all places! Don’t worry, we do not judge here. Come and tell us the type of men you are into!” Takashi burst out bluntly. Edward found his face turning bright red as the man kept talking about the many different types of men in the room let alone the world.

“Tamaki, he isn’t here for us,” Hikaru interrupted the romantically distressed man.

“Yeah, not every man who comes in here is homosexual. He only needs to use the changing room,” Kaoru added.

“Changing room,” Edward heard another squeaky voice call out. It was a short little boy, Edward would have suspected to be in middle school. He was smiling innocently up at him with seemingly pure excitement in his eyes. “Are we trying on costumes? What are you being?” The little boy snuck up behind him and gave a tug on his duffel bag and it fell off his shoulder.

“Hey!” Edward exclaimed as the little boy began rooting through his things. He pulled out his uniform jacket and stared at it with huge eyes. The rest of the students, who were now beginning to crowd, were all staring at if absolutely fascinated. He heard ooos and giggling whispers from the crowd of girls around them. It was like they never saw one before. Edward felt his face heat up and snatched the jacket from the boy’s hands. Before he could dive into the bag to see what else he had, someone picked the little boy up from underneath the arms, keeping him a safe distance from the duffel.

“No, Mitsukuni,” a deeper voice answered. Edward stuffed his jacket in his bag and looked up to see a towering dark haired and skinned student above him. The little boy seemed to be upset to be pulled away from the strange clothes, but finally seemed to obey the man’s orders. Edward slung the bag back around his shoulders before he felt a hand slap him on the back roughly. Once again, it was Tamaki.

“Well, so what would it be? Would you like to join me for some tea? I picture you as a romantic type of person myself-” Edward tore the man’s hand off of him and growled as he took a good few steps back from him.

“I don’t have time for this!” Edward huffed as he turned around for the door but his way was suddenly blocked by another student with short black hair and glasses. He stood his ground and challenged the man to move. “I need to change and catch the train. This job is too important to be late for!”

“Yes, we have all heard of you Mr. Elric. You’re the honor’s student who is also a soldier. If you were to be late for a job like that, well, I could just imagine the consequences,” the man said lightly fingering the clipboard that was tucked underneath his arm. Edward squinted his eyes as he studied him, while the man was just giving him a slim lipped smile. Shivers seemed to run up his spine. He seemed too calculating. “I am Kyoya Ootori. I am a second year here, Class A. I believe you transferred into Tamaki’s and my chemistry class. If you would like me to show you to the changing rooms you would be able to get into your uniform in peace.” Edward felt as if he smacked his face into a brick wall. He was transferred out of a class with the annoying twins just to wind up with their older just as cooky friends. Couldn’t any rich people be normal? It was like the aristocracy was full of wack jobs, even Armstrong…. Edward shivered slightly even at the thought of that man. He was getting nowhere being delayed with thoughts like that. He glanced down at his watch. He hated himself for accepting their help yet again, even after what the twins brought him to, but he was running out of time.

“Fine.”

“Very well then,” he hummed with another smile. “Follow me.” Edward tightened his duffle around his shoulder and followed the man to the corner of the room where there was a set of doors that entered into a rather large changing area. There were small rooms sectioned off by curtains that he would be able to change behind in peace. Edward was relieved to find it not congested with people like all of the other latrines were. Kyoya opened a section of curtain and ushered him in.

“Don’t mind Tamaki. He can be a little imaginative. You are free to use the changing room as much as you like and are always welcome as a guest. Might I ask you to think about even joining the club? I hear that you are a smart student, and your tough personality might be a quality that would benefit us immensely-”

“What to woo girls? I don’t think so. I am not really liking what this club is for-”

“We do not woo girls, though that is sometimes a consequence we have to face. We simply teach our guests and even the members of our club the manners of how to be a host. We hold formal events and dances which benefit the spread of culture as well as raise money for local charities,” the man corrected him. Edward frowned.

“No, I think I am good. I will see if I can’t find somewhere else to change tomorrow so I won’t have to interrupt your event,” Edward said.

“Very well then,” Kyoya sighed as he checked something off of his clipboard and pushed up his glasses. “I will make sure no one interrupts you on your way out.” The curtain was flipped shut and he was finally able to change out of his school uniform and into his dreaded military one. Edward began cursing again at why he had to wear such stupid looking clothes everywhere he went. How he wished he could have just worn his red coat for once.

When done, Edward slipped his gloves back over his hands and put his cap in his hands while he strapped his bags back over his shoulder. He looked at the time and noticed he only had ten minutes to catch the next bus. He really didn’t have time for this. He sprinted out of the changing room sending a few quick words of gratitude, none too deeply felt, to the club members and sped out of the building towards the gate of the school ground. The bus station was a block away and he could already see the exhaust of the bus picking up as it was about to depart. Edward cursed the high heavens, especially the Hitachiin twins.

…..

“He really didn’t have time, did he?” Kaoru stated as he watched the new student speed out of the room like it was on fire.

“Where is he going, Tamaki?” one of their crowding guests questioned. Absolutely everyone’s attention was drawn to the new stranger that was among them for such a short period of time.

“He had work, my princess. It is a soldier’s duty and he couldn’t be late. However,” Tamaki clicked his tongue and shook his head in disappointment, “he should know that running out of a room is not formal etiquette at all. Very improper.”

“I never met a soldier before,” another girl commented.

“I heard that they were crude and women harassers,” another said.

“He does seem angry all the time.”

“Ladies, ladies, these are all huge misconceptions,” Kyoya butted in as he scribbled some more notes down on his clipboard. “Mr. Elric is just like any of us. A commoner will always have a hard time fitting in here, though. Haruhi has the same problem but you see how nice he is.”

“My Haruhi?” Tamaki asked as if the statement was blasphemous. “He fits in just fine! A perfect gentleman in every way!”

“But boss, he has a point,” Kaoru interrupted the man’s banter of worry. “Especially with his military status it doesn’t matter how good looking he is in uniform, people will see him as a work dog.”

“He is already having a hard time in classes with a couple of the kids,” Hikaru elaborated. “Though he’s smart, he’s never been to school before so it is obvious he doesn’t really know what to do half the time.”

“He thought the bell was a fire alarm in one of our classes.”

“He never went to school?” Honey asked.

“In his application he left prior education as blank,” Kyoya commented.

“He really is a new creature here, definitely strange. What child never went to school before?” Tamaki muttered lightly. “Do you think…. he’s just so poor he couldn’t afford it? He’s so poor that he couldn’t afford school and now he has joined the military just to pay for what little education he could scrounge up here, hoping to fill his lost years with meaning?”

“Yeah, sure,” Kaoru said rolling his eyes as Tamaki got some of the females in a shocked fluster of worry.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Kyoya commented, “but Amestris is a primitive country. They don’t have technology that we do. Their culture is stuck in the past because of their isolation. Amestris is landlocked and war ridden so I wouldn’t push it past him for living a difficult life.”

“Hardships are something we must all endure, but he shouldn’t have to do it alone! Group, we need to help this young man find his inner peace! We need to make him a host!”

“I don’t think he wants our help Tamaki,” Hikaru said. “He doesn’t seem like the person to reach out.”

“All the more reason to!” he exclaimed. Tamaki got up and strode across the room to glance out the window. He could see the blue clashed figure of their new acquaintance running across the lawn and out of the school’s front gate. A person, especially of their age, should not be working so hard. Tamaki really did wonder what type of life the kid had to have brought him to such status. Now to have been placed in the social tensions of Ouran, the kid was in for some trouble. Even within the most elite, there were people who were not the best in the world. “Group, we will help this Edward Elric become a formal gentleman.”

…………….

Edward collapsed on the couch in his apartment and massaged his tired face. He couldn’t even focus on anything, let alone the giant pile of homework he needed to do. The meeting in the government got him nowhere. It was filled with mostly questions of his age, credibility, and unfortunately height. He forced himself to choke down the angered outbursts about the comments they made and accept that he was going to be working with these people. If he didn’t, he knew the Colonel had his ignition gloves and a court martial ready for his trip home. Edward groaned as he flipped over onto his stomach and plowed his head into the pillow.

“Brother, it couldn’t have been that bad,” Alphonse commented as he lowered a bowl of ramen to his face, urging him to eat. Edward grabbed the bowl and forced himself to sit up.

“It was. They were completely clueless. I had to start with square one on alchemy and they barely even understood that. I couldn’t even finish my lecture because of all of their pestering questions,” Edward grumbled as he slurped a bunch of noodles. “‘You can’t teach you’re so young!’ ‘Is being that short genetic?’ ‘I can’t even understand his accent!’” Edward mocked their bickerings. “I don’t know how I will ever be able to do this.”

“Was it at least better than school?” Alphonse asked but he just got a small mocking laugh in return.

“I would rather have the court martial,” Edward commented dryly. There was a short silence between them as Edward finished his bowl of noodles. Alphonse waited patiently as he always did when Edward was eating. When he was done, Edward asked, “So how was your day, better than mine I guess?”

“After we talked over the phone about airplanes I decided to go back to the library for some books on them. Just for something to do really. It is pretty boring here without you or alchemy books. But I did meet our neighbors. They seemed really nice, but the man’s daughter is sick with a cold. I gave them some noodles I got at the store but I didn’t stay long. I didn’t want to get you sick,” Alphonse said as he reflected back on his day.

“But if you got me sick, I wouldn’t have to go to school,” Edward smiled wryly. Alphonse gave a little gasp and smacked him over the shoulder lightly.

“Edward, don’t be so mean! Your school can’t be that bad. You are just over reacting.”

“Someday when we get your body back you will feel my pain, little brother,” Edward muttered as he hauled his book bag up on the couch next to him. He pulled some of his books out and handed one to Alphonse who took it gingerly. “Or you can feel it now,” he said pulling out a notebook. “I got all of my work done except literature. I still don’t understand how to ‘dissect’ it like the man said. Do you think you know how to?”

“Brother, don’t push your work on me!”

“You were the one who wanted to go to school in the first place, you got to be prepared for work!” Edward retorted. “Come on, just help me? I really don’t know. I thought it was coded but… I am not sure anymore.”

…………


	3. The Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward finds that being a commoner in an aristocratic school comes with a whole new set of issues as well as people.

**_The Common Folk_ **

Chapter 3

The Fight

A few days passed with the same hectic schedule as the first. Edward was running to school then work and back with no break even close. The politicians were not letting up on the fact that he was so young and he barely even taught them the first principle of alchemy while the students at school were treating him like a lap dog. Whenever he wasn’t looking he was finding himself being tripped up in the hallway, mocked for his accent, or having a book chucked at his head. It was only a few select students who were doing this, but he was really having trouble restraining himself from punching his steel fist right into their skulls. He was able to get back at them with his own cunning mannerisms like alchemising their lockers shut for a day and so forth. However, the friction continued. The twins luckily backed off and let him alone during class, but enough trouble was caused anyways that it didn’t make a difference. Edward found himself searching for his own place to eat lunch quietly just so he wouldn’t have to sit in the congested mess hall. If he wasn’t under strict orders to behave he would have beat those stupid aristocrats senseless by now and eat wherever he wanted, but for his own sake unless he wanted a run in with the Colonel, he had to try everything he could to restrain himself. Removing himself from the situation was the best bet.

Edward walked into his advanced chemistry class on thursday morning just to be met with the normal stares from his classmates. Tamaki and Kyoya watched him as he entered. He had recently transferred into the second year class by his biology teacher’s recommendation. Edward snuck in, hearing the whispers of the other students pick up as they saw a first year in their class. Unfortunately, after asking around he found that the only chairs open were the ones by the Hosts and he found himself loathing all the other students because of it. He growled to himself grumpily as he plopped down in his chair and pulled out his books as was usual routine. The hosts stayed silent behind him but he could feel their eyes watching him carefully.

“Could you please stop staring at me like I am a wild animal?” Edward asked them under his breath. Tamaki blinked silently and turned his gaze away for only a moment before it returned to his back and instant later. “I said stop looking at me! Don’t think that I didn’t see you and your stupid friends stalking me around the halls either. Just leave me alone,” he growled. Yes, for the past few days the Host club was following him for some stupid reason. He couldn’t go anywhere without seeing them tucked away behind a corner or cooped up behind some flimsy newspapers. They were all really bad at sneaking around. Occasionally they would have the courage to come up and talk to him, but it would always lead to an invitation to join the host club and he would immediately shut them down. He didn’t have time to fool around, especially in a group as nosy as them.

“Why, we are just worried about our new student. We just want to make sure you’re alright,” Tamaki grinned, leaning on his shoulder in a flourishing manner. Edward felt himself grow red in anger, but he forced himself to choke it down.

“It was all Tamaki’s idea. He is kind of a high maintenance character,” Kyoya smirked as he pushed his glasses up on his nose.

“Why? Why can’t you just leave me alone? I don’t want help from devils like you. You already got me into enough trouble as it is, I can’t picture you saving me from any,” Edward grumbled. Suddenly a new student Edward never saw before in their class walked in. It was a young boy with short brown hair and eyes. He waved at the hosts and they returned the gesture before the kid sat down in the reserved seat next to them.

“My Harui!” Tamaki exclaimed excitedly. “It seemed ages since we saw you!”

“I was only gone for a couple days,” the boy muttered under his breath as he got his notebooks out.

“Are you feeling better?” Kaoru asked. “It’s been long but I don’t want you getting any of our clients sick.”

“I had some help from a new neighbor. My father talked to them while I was passed out in my room. I wasn’t able to do much besides sleep, but I feel tons better now,” Haruhi responded in quite a soft voice. He still looked sick but not contagiously so.

“If you would allow us to come over Haruhi we could have helped you,” Tamaki offered but Haruhi shook his head.

“There is no way any of you are stepping foot in my house,” he commented but suddenly caught sight of Edward sitting there in front of them. He looked surprised and Edward wanted to bang his head off the table as he was going to be introduced to another one of their crazy friends. “Hello, I am Haruhi Fujioka, who are you?”

“Haruhi, this is Edward Elric,” Kyoya introduced.

“He is the new honor student from… where are you from again?” Tamaki asked him.

“Amestris,” Edward muttered and the boys nodded their head in acceptance of his answer.

“He works for the military,” Kyoya offered more information to a complete stranger.

“Yes, he is our adorable little soldier boy,” Tamaki squealed as he poked Edward’s cheeks. The flames ignited in his chest and Edward felt his temperament boil over. He grabbed the blond kid by his necktie and brought him down to his level, glaring him in the eyes.

“W-what did you call me?” Edward seethed, his anger jumping from his golden irises into his blue ones. Tamaki seemed suddenly loss for words under his intimidating anger.

“N-n-nothing,” the man stuttered.

“Well uh, nice to meet you, Edward,” Haruhi said interrupting their squabble before it went any farther and he stuck out his hand to shake. Edward looked at it once suspiciously and took it with his right, releasing Tamaki from his grip. That was the first time any of these rich folks actually offered a simple handshake. “I am the other honor student. I am in the first year but they professors moved me up to this class. I understand what it must be like.”

“Really?” Edward asked him a little surprised. He got a rather kind smile in return.

“Yeah, at least I made some friends to help me. Some of the people here aren’t the nicest in the bunch,” he said. Edward let out a weak laugh.

“Yeah, no kidding,” he muttered. Suddenly a book flew out of nowhere and nailed Edward in the back of the head. He was jolted forward enough that he slammed right into Haruhi and they toppled to the floor in a tangled mess.

“Hey! Don’t drop my book next time, honor nerd!” one of the other male classmates tauntingly called out.

“Pick it up, little dog!” another called out. Edward knew those two. Along with the twins, they were in almost everyone of his classes and they were of Class A status, not because of their grades but their lineage. It boosted their ego well beyond that of another elitist who suffered from a god complex. They were the reason he always tried to find his own place to eat instead of the cafeteria because every moment he saw their ugly faces he wanted to punch them in. However, there was no removing himself from the situation this time.

“What did you call me?” Edward seethed, trying his best to cool his temper down. He stood up from where he had landed on Haruhi and shook with anger. He helped the boy up before he turned to see the two scoffing at him.

“Little dog, what are you deaf?”

“Th-that’s what I thought you said,” Edward jittered as he bent down and picked up the book that had previously collided with his skull. Edward took one look at it. It was the chemistry textbook. Papers of homework were jammed into it like crazy and he could already tell all of the answers were wrong without looking at it. If they didn’t think chemistry was an important enough subject to hold onto, well fine. He would just have to teach it to them himself. Kyoya raised his eyebrow curious as to what he was about to do.

“I don’t know if you had taken physics yet but it might do you well to pay attention and learn something for once,” Edward growled as he made his way towards the far end of the classroom, the book gripped dangerously tight in his metal hand. “The law of motion, inertia, states an object in motion stays in motion until acted upon by another force. For example, my head,” Edward huffed at them. The two students chuckled crudely as they seemed to get more praise for throwing the book at him. Edward smirked as he turned towards the open window. “Or possibly the ground.” He tossed the book up lightly in the air, caught it, and then flung it as hard as he could out the third story window. The entire class rushed over to the window to see where it went. Edward heard the satisfying thunk as it collided with the ground. The spine split open and he watched the wind pick up and carry all of the homework papers away. “Oops,” he muttered with an evil, gleaming smile. A roar of voices suddenly struck up as everyone was blabbering about the book. Edward felt something catch him by the back of the collar and spin him around.

“Why you little plebeian!” the kid seethed. Edward frowned at him as the boy held him up by the shirt. Some of the girls in the class screamed a little bit at the sudden violence. The kid was taller than him and he was standing on his tiptoes as the boy brought him up closer to his face. “I will beat you till you are just a stain in the history books.”

“Well, it’s a good thing this is a chemistry class,” Edward gritted, his fingers flexing slightly as he tried to restrain himself from punching the boy. “I would like to be a gentleman and settle this outside, but I was put under specific orders not to incapacitate any gold sniffers like you. So please, don’t feel offended if I don’t join the tea party,” he huffed. The kid scowled and Edward saw his hand cock back and he lifted his automail arm to block it but suddenly, someone grabbed the kid and pulled him away.

“With the way you are acting, Jonathan, I would have thought that you were the one pulled off of the streets,” Tamaki commented, one that Edward chose to ignore at that moment, as he shoved him back into his desk chair.

“That dog threw my book out the window! That had my homework in it!” the kid accused.

“You don’t even do your own work. I saw you swindling it off several different students from the other class!” Edward accused.

“Jonathan, if you threw your book at his head, and he tossed it out the window, just think about what would happen if you threw a punch at him,” Kyoya noted. “The math isn’t in your favor.”

“Yes, I doubt a three story fall would be a very nice way to travel to your next class,” Tamaki hummed.

“I am the victim here!”

“I would appreciate it if you actually tried to get to know a person instead of their status,” Haruhi scolded the kid. Edward was surprised that he was standing up, that any of them were standing up. He didn’t think that he was on such nice status with the Host let alone their friends he just met. They were annoying and he tried his best to refuse any of their offers to join, but for some reason they didn’t seem to care. They reminded him slightly of Alphonse in that manner. Suddenly the teacher walked in and everyone quickly quieted down. All fists were lowered in an attempt to look as sophisticated as possible.

“Sit down class, pull out your homework, we have a ton of work to do.”

…………………….

Edward growled to himself angrily as he rooted through his bag in fury. He couldn’t find his lunch anywhere even though he was sure he packed it. He knew he wouldn’t be able to buy the food here since it was all caviar and krimpets. He didn’t even know if he could stomach it let alone purchase it. Why did fancy aristocratic schools need to have fancy aristocratic lunches? Even the vending machines had salads! In one last huff of defeat, Edward angrily tossed his bag back into his locker and slammed the door shut. Great. He forgot both lunch and dinner. He could just picture how hungry he would be when he got home. Alphonse would be very upset with him. Edward looked in his pockets to see what little money he had left in case he could scrounge up even the slightest bit of food. He had a good 5 dollars. He sighed to himself and stuffed it back into his pocket. He could at least try.

Edward walked into the large dining hall expecting to see the usual students scattered around at their own tables with their own friends and clicks but he was not expecting to see them all crowded around in the middle of the room. They were all gossiping like usual, a bombardment of questions going unanswered by the sole person they were attacking, his little brother.

“Ed!” Alphonse exclaimed excitedly. Edward stormed over and shoved his way through the giant crowd of people as Alphonse was having difficulty getting out. He yelled at them all to spread out and hit the road but only a few people obeyed.

“Alphonse, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to go check out the library again for some physics books. Is everything alright?” Edward asked with a look of concern on his face. He was not expecting to see him here at all and his mind flew to sudden panic as to the 101 reasons why his brother would come to school and none of them were good. Alphonse gave a short quick nod before handing him the small box he was holding.

“You forgot your lunch _and_ your dinner on the counter in your rush out the door. I didn’t think you had enough money to buy anything so I brought them to you.” Edward took the box in his hands. It was still warm as if Alphonse had just made it, even though he knew for a fact that he made it the night before. Edward opened it up a bit to see that it was an elaborately designed bento.

“You are becoming quite the artist,” Edward smiled as he looked at it. “Where the heck did you learn how to do this?”

“Our neighbor showed me how when he caught me leaving the flat to take you the lunch I made before. He said ‘food is art and I should make it that way’,” Alphonse said, jokingly mimicking the man. Edward laughed at him as he tucked the bento boxes into his school bag. “Are these your friends?” Alphonse asked as he looked over the top of Edward’s head to see the kids standing behind him. Edward turned around and angrily scolded them to go away. This school was the head of gossip town and he hated people crowding.

“No, they are just annoying,” he muttered. If Alphonse’s armor could have frowned it would have. Edward could tell.

“You need to make friends. There are probably some nice people out there,” Alphonse scolded him. Edward scowled to himself and turned his accused gaze to the floor. He knew Alphonse wanted him to have friends and he also knew that his brother also wanted to have some of his own. If he ever made any, Alphonse would want to have them over for dinner just so that he could meet them. Being alone at home all day must get boring and rather lonely. Alphonse pointed over to one of the tables in the far corner. “How about them? They look-”

“Not them!” Edward realized as he saw Alphonse point over to a table that Tamaki and Kyoya were sitting at. Just like Haruhi, those were the last people he wanted over at his house.

“But why not?” Alphonse asked as Edward caught their attention drawing over to them. Edward groaned as he saw them getting up from their seats to come over. Tamaki was nearly running.

“Now, you did it,” he grumbled as he was nearly tackled from the back by the tall blue eyed blond. The man brought him into a huge hug and spun him around. Edward shoved him off and tried to take a good few steps away but the man snagged his arm around his shoulder.

“Why hello my little soldier, trying to run away from us I see. Who do we have here?” he said all too cheerily, looking up at his brother with vast interest.

“Hello, I am Alphonse, his younger brother,” the armor admitted.

“Younger brother? Edward, you never told us you had a family. Here we thought you were all by yourself, poor and defenseless, unable to even-”

“Of course, I have a family!” Edward growled as he slapped Tamaki’s hand from around his shoulder. “I didn’t tell you because you are a nosy jerk who can’t give people their privacy. Why would I tell you?” Tamaki dramatically looked hurt, clutching his chest and wallowing in pain. Edward rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to be bought by the charade. However, Alphonse wasn’t so stubborn. The armor gave him a steel look as if silently scolding him for being so inconsiderate.

“Alphonse,” Kyoya asked as he jotted something down on his clipboard. Edward was getting very suspicious about all of the things he must have written on that thing over the years. He didn’t like it. “That armor is very impressive, even medieval I must say, though this is the twenty first century. Might you be more comfortable in regular clothes? It must be really hot, being early fall. We have some spare uniforms in the music room-”

“Oh, no!” Alphonse exclaimed suddenly, cutting him off. “I… I don’t go here. I just wear this for… hobby?” he answered questionably. “Y-yeah… I am quite used to it by now…. fairly…. comfortable,” his voice died off at the end and Edward knew that saying that made him wish he could actually feel what comfortable was like. His brother definitely didn’t like to talk about it at all because his body reminded him of everything he couldn’t do. His brother became a little rigid and only Edward could tell that his eyes were starting to wander aimlessly in his thoughts. Edward grabbed him by the hand and started to lead him out of the luncheon hall.

“Thank you so much for meeting my brother, but he has places to go, people to see! We are so very busy, still moving in, you know how it is, bye!” Edward battered on to the rich folks as he pulled his brother away from them, his own attempt at trying to get Alphonse out of a situation he wasn’t comfortable with. Alphonse just waved meekly at the stunned group until they were finally out in the empty hallway.

“Alphonse, is everything alright?” Edward finally asked his brother, who was now interested at staring at the opposite wall.

“Y-yeah…,” he mumbled. Edward frowned and punched him lightly on the chest plate with his automail hand.

“Come on, brother, I know what you were thinking about,” Edward scolded him. Alphonse looked away from him again and rubbed the back of his helmet nervously as if trying to make himself admit it.

“I… just don’t like to have to explain my body to people. I just-”

“You want to be normal and go to school like everyone else, right?” Edward answered for him, seeing how his brother was having difficulty. The armour nodded it’s head and the older brother smiled. “Well, you will. We are so close to returning you back to normal, I can tell it. We will enroll you in the best institution in Amestris, since grade school is too easy for you,” he commented giving his brother a smirk. “That is, also, after you had a piece of Mrs. Hughes’ pie of course… and after we get a cat…-”

“A cat? Brother you-”

“Hey, we are still going to be discussing this,” Edward interrupted, glad to see that he made his brother feel better so soon. “However, since I believe when we turn you back to normal, there wouldn’t be any real reason to have to travel everywhere, and so we would have a place to keep it.”

“Thank you, brother! Thankyou so much!” Alphonse exclaimed as he gripped him in a literal bone crushing hug.

“Yeah, yeah,” Edward muttered wondering what he got himself into. In all reality, these were all on list of things that they were going to do when they got Alphonse’s body back . They didn’t even know when or how to do that yet, but right now all they could do is study, work, and hope. And Edward never broke a promise he was willing to keep. “Alphonse, why don’t you go home or explore the city for a bit?” Edward suggested. “I don’t think you want to hang around here all day. People here don’t have anything else to do but gossip.”

“I will see you this evening I suppose,” Alphonse mumbled, faltering a bit. Edward smiled and nodded his head.

“Thanks for the bento,” Edward called out as his brother turned to leave.

“Don’t leave it next time!” he called back over his shoulder. Edward rolled his eyes with a smile as he watched his brother round the corner. He sighed to himself as he glanced back down at the two boxes that his brother gave him. Sometimes he thought that his brother took better care of him than he did. His small smile hardened a bit as he glanced back towards the door of the cafeteria. There were some heads poking out, all of them t he could recognize as being from the Host Club. They were trying to figure out what was going on. He angrily tucked his bento under his arm and marched back over to where they were casually waiting pretending like they weren’t attenmpting to eavesdrop. Edward knew that they couldn’t hear anything from how far they were but it was the fact that they tried that pissed him off. He walked up to where Kyoya was standing and scowled at him.

“Don’t comment on my brother’s armor again,” he growled at him. Kyoya raised an eyebrow, the only true expression Edward saw from the boy since he met him.

“I was only trying to be hospitable to make him more comfortable-” he defended lightly.

“Well, don’t,” he retorted before heading on his own way to find a place to sit and eat his lunch. Everyone in the hall seemed to be staring at him, but he tried his best to ignore them, only occasionally giving a few too curious passersby a good glare. The Host Club went to their own separate table not too far away to eat their lunch. Edward was just glad that the twins didn’t get a chance to meet his brother. He just knew that would have ended in chaos. He spent a long time in the lunch hall, eating his meal and reading a book from english class in an attempt to tune out all of the gossip that was flying around the room. Some students tried to ask him a few questions about his brother, but he chased them off with an aggravated glare just to return to his book. It was as peaceful of a lunch as it could have been, but as time started to run down, Edward needed to get to class. As he finished up his bento, he picked up his boxes and was about to head out for the door but without his book to distract him, he caught over obnoxious laughter coming from one of the tables he was passing. It was Jonathan. Edward eyed him curiously but he was too deep in his rude comments to even notice.

“Yeah, he just let me off with a warning, the old coot,” he laughed about the chemistry teacher from their earlier class.

“I can’t believe he threw your book out of the window-” one boy muttered in disbelief.

“Well next time I will throw him out the window,” Jonathan returned. “It isn’t like he belongs here anyways. I mean he’s a bloody soldier, only peasants become those.”

“I heard it was because he needed to, like a draft or something-”

“I heard it was for his family-” another defended. Jonathan rolled his eyes and stuffed a roll of fancy tuna in his mouth. Edward narrowed his eyes at the kid, as he felt his face heat up as they talked about him. He tried to relax his hand, but he still found it curling into a fist. The subtle voice of Mustang rang in the back of his mind but the words were a blur.

“You mean that piece of armour? If his brother was trying to impress us by wearing a grubby suit of metal, he’s not doing a really good job. You can make one out of a garbage can and make it better than that. He probably just wears it to hide his ugly mug. Could you believe if his face was distorted beyond belief? He might look almost like his older brother!” the kid laughed.

“Well, at least we can thank the heavens that we don’t look as snob nosed as you,” Edward retorted, placing his open fist on his hips. Jonathan nearly choked on his tuna as he spun around to see him glaring at him. “Now, what were you saying about my little brother, Jonathan?” The kid looked frightened but unfortunately it was replaced with brave stupidity. He scoffed and stood up from his chair, crossing his arms in defiance. _Don’t do it. Don’t you do it._ Edward thought to himself as anger gritted through his system but Jonathan’s smile was laced with sly provocation.

“I was just saying how your rusted tin bucket of a brother probably is some sort of ugly either that or stupid for wearing that-” the boy didn’t even get to finish before Edward plowed his left fist into the boy’s jaw. A few people screamed and several students from the surrounding tables scattered away to give them space. Edward shook out his hand lightly as the kid took his time to regain his senses.

“Wow, you must really be stubborn,” Edward muttered, “I nearly broke my hand on your thick head!” Jonathan growled as he stumbled up and he swung for a good punch himself. Edward easily side stepped it and as he was passing, he carefully dropped his bento boxes and used the boy’s motion to flip him over onto the ground. He landed with a thud and Edward pinned him down with his foot. “I am guessing you aren’t that smart either,” he huffed as he bent down and stared into the eyes of his prey, “for if you were you obviously would have thought it better than to attack a person who clearly out skills you. But more importantly, you probably would have thought better than to insult that person’s brother. Say whatever the fuck you want about me, you rich jerk, but know for a fact that my family comes above all else. If you insult them, I will humiliate you till you are black and blue.” The boy growled at him but Edward saw the fear underlining it. Edward’s inner voice was scolding him, cursing left and right for letting the boy get the better of him. He was never good at restraining himself when incited and as harsh frightened whispers flew around the room, the realization of what he just did hit him. It felt so good to put the kid in his place, but then again, he just beat up an aristocrat. Suddenly the two of them froze as they heard someone clear their voice behind them. Edward turned to see a group of teachers standing over them and he felt his heart drop as he realized the severity of the issue. Mustang was going to kill him.

“Elric, Okawa, come with us to the Headmaster’s office.”

………..


	4. Join the Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The principle has a very specific punishment for Edward's fight

**_The Common Folk_ **

Chapter 4

Join the Club

Edward’s headache grew and grew the longer he was on the phone with his commanding officer. The Headmaster of the school, Mr. Suoh, called to tell Mustang about his fight. The school apparently had strict rules against even the slightest confrontation and even was warned about Mustang’s even stricter policy. Jonathan was unfortunately let off the hook as he was seen as the victim, having been punched and bruised while Edward didn’t have a scratch. Jonathan was currently in the nurse office being pampered by medicines and lollipops. The idea of it just made Edward sick. However, Mustang just used it as fuel to the fire he was burning through the phone line. The man was chewing him out all the way from Amestris.

“ _Edward, I know it was about your brother. It always is. But remember you have a job to do down there. You are a representative of Amestris. An insult should be overlooked if it means for the betterment of all. If news of this gets out, which it surely will, the Japanese government will think twice about having you as their teacher.”_

“Yes sir,” Edward grumbled a little nastily, but he knew the man was right and Mustang let it slide.

 _“Now I am only going to say this one more time, Fullmetal. Don’t fuck up._ ” With that said, the phone line clicked off and Edward let out a breath of air he didn’t know he was holding as he set it back on the receiver. At least he got that off his chest. However, Mr. Suoh was still glaring at him.

“You do realize that this has an impact on the school as well, Elric. We teach proper aristocrats here. We hold manners and demeanor above all else. Even though you are a honor student and earned the right to be here, we will not have someone as wild as you in our institution.”

“Alright, I will not hit anyone. I already got a lecture from the Colonel-”

“Not just that, Elric,” the man interrupted sternly. “You need to turn into a proper gentleman. We need to see you refined. In order to see this through I have added you to the school’s honorary Host Club-”

“The WHAT!” Edward exclaimed as he heard the words spew out of the man’s mouth. Mr. Suoh seemed startled by his sudden outburst as Edward stood up from his chair in the large office. “No, you can’t do that! Not with them!” Edward said. “I have work right after school I can’t-”

“All arrangements have been made. I told your class about your predicament and they gladly moved the schedule back a couple hours. You will participate in the host club in order to learn proper manners. Until you show us that you are worthy of being a true gentleman, you will attend all and every meeting that the club’s president holds. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Elric?” the man huffed. Edward’s mouth hung agape as he was completely lost for words. He couldn’t believe that he was ever led to this. Those stupid members were following him around all week. They were spying on him, prying him to answer stupid questions, and over dramatizing his life. The last thing he was going to do was to give into their constant begs to be in the host club. He could just see the twins annoying him not only for seven hours of school classes but for an extra two hours of club. The very group of people he wanted to stay away from was the group he was being sent to for his punishment. Edward felt his head hang in defeat. The idea was all too much.

“Yes sir,” he muttered. The man seemed satisfied and he sketched a little note on a pink piece of paper and handed it to him. Edward took it and looked down at it. The sloppy signature was written in gold imbedded ink and yet too fancy to read.

“That’s a note to let them know my orders. They have a meeting right now. I expect you to be there,” he ordered him. Edward nodded his head solemnly and grabbed his backpack which had his dinner box in it. He slung it over his shoulder and gave a small bow before leaving the Headmaster’s Office. He slowly made his way out of the Admissions building and towards the arts. He found his footsteps slow and unwilling. A death sentence would have been more acceptable than this! As he passed students, whispers and gossip picked up. He noticed some of the take small steps away from him like they were afraid that he would hurt them too. Edward rolled his eyes as he let out a small sigh. He guessed he brought this upon himself. Alphonse was always warning him about his temper. As he made it to the third music room he slowly pushed the large ornate door open and poked his head inside.

“Welcome!” he heard the usual ring of handsome voices. Edward rolled his eyes as he stepped into the room to find it as usual -- full of fancy women dazzling over the few select men in the room. Tea sets were on all of tables along with fancy cakes for the guests to enjoy. Edward knew that they tasted terrible but they were rather for people’s eyes than their taste buds.

“Shut up,” Edward mumbled as Tamaki abandoned his post of guests and flew over to him. He was about to make one of his elaborate welcome speeches, but Edward stopped him before he even began. The kid looked rather falsely offended.

“My little soldier, what brings you here? After the lunch incident I would have thought you to have been sent home,” the kid smiled trying to pick up a conversation. “You do know that punching someone isn’t looked lightly upon here.”

“That’s the only reason why I am here,” Edward grumbled as he handed the boy his pink slip. Tamaki took it curiously and his face suddenly lit up with extreme pleasure. Edward took a step back from him but it was too late. The kid had tackled him in a huge hug so overwhelmed with joy.

“Yes! I knew you would come around to your senses soon, my soldier! I am so glad you will be joining us!”

“GET OFF OF ME!” Edward exclaimed as he shoved the kid off. He felt as if his ribcage had been crushed to dust. It was even worse than one of Alphonse’s metal hugs.

“What’s going on over here?” Kyoya’s monotonous voice asked curiously. He had his clipboard in hand as usual and looked down on Edward with an all-knowing stare. He wouldn’t be surprised if the kid was just asking that question to get on his nerves. Tamaki flashed the pink slip over to the boy and he barely looked it over. Edward crossed his arms angrily and looked away from the kid who just smiled back gently. “Well. It looks like we have another Host in our club. I might have to recalculate some numbers but we might be able to make this work. It will definitely be difficult with your new status as the first year Typhoon.”

“The what?” Edward gasped, disbelieving what his ears were told. Kyoya nodded his head and pushed up his glasses.

“Yes, as you know gossip is the one major form of entertainment here and everyone already has their own version of what happened in Lunch today. Some of them are completely fabricated but they all earned you the name of Typhoon,” he said. Edward groaned and massaged his face with his hands. This was going to be a lot harder to overcome than he originally thought.

“Yes, with that name it might be difficult for any of the girls to request you. What a shame it is. You had such potential, but now with such a horrid name, you are dragged down” Tamaki yawned.

“Used to it,” Edward grumbled. “I don’t want girls to request me.”

“So you are a homosexual after all?”

“NO!” Edward growled at him. “I just don’t have time for girls or friends. I have work, research, and now school. I don’t have time.”

“But, Mr. Elric, now that you are required to be in our club as a host, all hosts have a quota they must meet. Even Haruhi here has one. In order to see how far you have come on being a real gentleman we need to see how you fair becoming a host.”

“And with that said, let’s begin!” Tamaki exclaimed in excitement. “Suoh’s 6 steps of Gentleman’s Etiquette!”

…………………..

“Step 1! A Gentleman’s guide to written communication!” Tamaki said as he shoved Edward down at a table and slapped a fancy journal down in front of him and a fountain pen. Edward growled as he was forced to sit through this man’s many made up classes. He hated his voice as it was very annoying and even sitting in his presence was enough to make him stressed out. He was practically being dragged around like a hopeless puppet until the club was over in a couple hours. Haruhi looked sorry for him and he suspected that he had to go through the same thing when he was first made a host.

“Yes, though this might seem old fashion, a written letter can touch the hearts deeper than any internet connected message. Texts, Post messages, Emails, they are all superficial. The art of writing goes back thousands of ages and can be used to deeply express one’s inner most desire and portray their own unique styles-”

“Wait, time out,” Edward interrupted. Tamaki stopped a bit surprised that he didn’t even get far in his speech and was already being asked questions. “What in the world are you talking about?”

“Writing a formal letter,” Tamaki replied a bit taken back.

“Not that! All that other stuff you were talking about, nets and all of that.”

“The internet?” Edward nodded his head and Tamaki looked even more bewildered. “Are you telling me you don’t know what the internet is? You poor poor soul!” The man was sent off again into his own rampage and Edward hated himself for even asking. “You’re so starved for money you don’t even know what a computer is! You probably can’t afford it, spending all of your money on food just to stay alive, living in the slums or on the streets! What a terrible, terrible-”

“Shut up already!” Edward scolded him. “It can’t be that important if I haven’t heard about it!”

“Well, Edward,” Kyoya said, having heard his outburst from across the room. Though Edward was frankly suspicious of the kid, he did know how to save him from Tamaki’s dramatics. “The internet is one of the largest forms of communication, data collection, and research tools in the world today. People use it for nearly everything. I guess you could say it is the world's largest library at your fingertips.”

“Wait, what?” Edward asked dumbfounded.

“I am not surprised that you haven’t heard of it, coming from Amestris. It probably doesn’t even work in your country let alone exist. I don’t even know how much information on it really is relative to you, but if you want to see what it is about, I will gladly have one of us show you some time outside of the club meeting.” Kyoya jotted something down on his clipboard and tucked it under his arm, giving him a smile that sent shivers down his spine. “Tamaki, I suggest you skip this part of the lesson and get on with the other half. Edward would not be needing to know how to write a letter. It is, after all, his only way of communications outside of the telephone.” The tall black-haired boy pushed up his glasses and turned on his heel to go supervise the other hosts who were trying to entertain the guests that so happily came for their company. If the kid wasn’t on track of everything, Edward would have guessed that their club would have fallen into chaos long ago.

“Very well,” Tamaki huffed as he puffed out his chest to continue his lecture on written arts. Edward groaned as he massaged his temples and prepared himself. “Not only letter but journals can be kept to express these as well. Journals are important for keeping track of agendas, of ideas one might want to relate on, and even-”

“I already got one,” Edward grumbled cutting the kid off of his elaborate rampage of art and beauty. Tamaki paused and gave him a rather surprised look as if he wasn’t expecting a commoner to know what a journal even was. However, the blond-haired prince looked even more disheartened that he couldn’t deliver his speech on etiquette as shapely as he wanted to. Edward rolled his eyes and got up from the chair he was ungraciously shoved into. He grabbed his journal from his satchel and threw it at him. Tamaki caught it clumsily as it nearly hit his head and stared at it. “I have been keeping them since I was five.”

“Really?” Tamaki muttered as he flipped through the pages. “It… is a really strange… travel log you got here…”

“Well, you are just reading it superficially,” Edward mocked him as he tore it back out of his hands. Of course Tamaki wouldn’t know anything about alchemy so he couldn’t even recognize it as his alchemy notes but Edward still didn’t want him looking at it for long.

“What hand do you write with?”

“My left,” Edward told him as he crossed his arms grumpily. “Is that wrong?”

“Well, actually, yes,” he muttered. He motioned to see Edward’s journal back and he opened it to a random page. He pointed to Edward’s writing and had him stare at it closely. Yes, Edward’s handwriting wasn’t the best but it was perfectly legible. The Colonel was just picky and liked to make snide comments about it. “I see that your writing style is a rather sharp cursive, which is all fine, but if you look here at your lines, they are rather wobbly. If your write with your left hand like this, it makes me believe that you would write smoother in your right.”

“I can’t,” Edward mumbled as he grabbed the book back out of his hands and snapped it shut.

“Why not? It is just a simple switch-”

“I-I...just can’t. Can we move on?” he complained. Tamaki paused as if he wanted to challenge him and ask more questions, but Edward gave him a warning glare. He was not going to talk about it then.

“V-very well…,” he said with an accepting pause. “Onto step two!

……………..

Edward suffered through five of the six steps Tamaki threw at him that afternoon and he felt like he wanted to drop over dead. He went through how to talk about sports, how to introduce yourself, how to host a party, and how to dress (which he could never afford). With all of Tamaki’s oblivious insults and dramatics, Edward was so relieved when the bell rang for the end of school. He never knew there would be a day when he was glad to be teaching middle aged politicians about alchemy. However, now that his class was kicked back a couple hours he was going to have a really late night. He didn’t think he would be up to doing homework when he got home. Edward sighed to himself as he picked up his duffle bag. He would at least have to try.

Edward got changed in the large dressing room that the hosts set up. He thought that since he was now forced to stay with them he could at least use their facilities. He slipped his gloves on and was working on blousing the bottoms of his pants when the curtain suddenly opened.

“Hey!” Edward started to say but it was Mori. He was carrying what appeared to be his leather journal in his hands. Edward quickly looked down in his schoolbag to see that his was nowhere to be found. Forgetting about tying his boots, Edward jumped up and snatched it from the boy’s hand. “Where did you get this? Why do you have it?!” he scolded the kid, who was older and quite taller than him.

“Mitsukuni took it,” the boy said flatly. As Edward learned he wasn’t the most talkative type but he still found himself angry with him.

“I don’t care who took it! Why?! This isn’t yours! There is no reason for any of you stuck up to steal my stuff!” Edward yelled at him. He quickly opened his notebook and flipped through it. Though none of the pages seemed to be missing, he noticed that there was some cake icing and sprinkles from the pastries that they had for the guests stuck in the spine. It was a smeared mess. “I can’t believe you would do this,” Edward whined as he saw the discord his journal was reduced to. “And everyone is saying that I am the one who isn’t a gentleman.”

“Won’t happen again-” the kid made out. Edward heard him as being sincere, making him believe that Mori really didn’t have anything to do with it. However, the boy faltered and cut himself off as something else seemed to catch his attention. Edward looked down to see that his left pant leg was still rolled up from where he was trying to blouse it into his boots. His automail was shining out bright as day. He pinched the bridge of his nose and huffed to himself absolutely frustrated with everything that was happening that day. He was having the worse of luck. He tossed his journal back into his duffle bag and finished tucking his pants back into his boots. Mori’s eyes stayed locked on Edward’s leg even after it was covered from sight. He guessed that the boy really wasn’t expecting it, but who really was? Edward zipped his duffle up and slung it over his shoulder.

“Look,” Edward sighed as he ran his hand through his bangs. “Thank-you for returning it to me, but please, I don’t have time for any nonsense. I need to get to work.” The tall kid just nodded his head in confirmation and Edward eyed him for a second before walking past him and out of the door. The rest of the host club were gathered around Haruhi, making light fun of him for one reason or another, but they froze when they caught sight of him. Edward scowled at them and walked freely out of the door. He didn’t have time for their stupid games.

………..


	5. The Apology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphonse wants Edward to apologize for the fight. Edward finds that doing the right thing is a lot harder than it has to be.

**_The Common Folk_ **

Chapter 5

The Apology

“Brother.”

“Hmm,” Edward replied to Alphonse who was standing over him. He was carrying a single bowl of stew over to the coffee table where he had set up his homework. It was extremely late as he didn’t get off work until nine. The politicians still were wasting so much time discussing the fact that he was underaged and now they had even more ammo with the fight that he had at school that day. Apparently, he was teaching the boy’s father in the mass of hysteria he could only call his alchemy class. In the chaos of their debate over his ability to teach, Edward told them off.

_“I don’t care whether you think I am of age or not! That is completely irrelevant. You want to learn alchemy right? Then start acting like it! I didn’t come all this way to hear some rich old farts debate over something so stupid.”_

Edward shivered as he remembered his outburst. After he said that, everyone just got up and left the room to pick up their discussion out in the hallway. Edward could have slapped himself for how much of an idiot he was. He got into a fight at school that day, and now he even pissed off the entire Japanese government. He had very low hopes of ever teaching them anything. He would be stuck there the rest of his life if he wasn’t careful. Now he was just wallowing in misery as he attempted to do his impossible literature homework. Though he read the book twice over he didn’t understand it at all. What did the teacher mean by dissecting it? What was he supposed to get out of a simple story?

“Brother, you need to eat-”

“Can’t, I got to work.”

“You need to sleep-”

“Can’t I got to work,” Edward retorted again as he made another note down in his copy of the novel his class was reading. He was trying to use the Fibbian coding strategy to try and decode the book but it didn’t seem to be getting him anywhere. He managed to find some random words but it was probably sheer luck. He was hitting dead end after dead end.

“Brother,” Alphonse said in a much more strict and worried tone than he had originally. Edward looked up at him and frowned as he saw the armour stiff as a doorknob. Though most people would have labeled Alphonse as expressionless because of his armour, Edward could see that he was troubled. “Brother, I know you got into a fight today…. the headmaster called…”

“Oh,” Edward mumbled in regret, “yeah.”

“Edward, I want you to apologize-”

“For what?! He was making fun of you, Al! You didn’t hear the horrible things he said!” he exclaimed, slamming his pen down on the table. “He is the last person I am going to apologize to!”

“If the fight is about me then I should determine how it ends!” Alphonse yelled at him. Edward clamped his mouth shut. “Ed, don’t get into fights over me again. It isn’t worth it. Just go and apologize.”

“You don’t know how pig headed people are there! They trample over anyone who isn’t as rich as they are. If I apologize, they would just take it as praise.”

“Then let them,” Alphonse said softly. “You should just be the bigger person and do the right thing-”

“Are you calling me small?!” Edward yelled at him. “After everything that I have been through today, I don’t want to deal with you calling me small! I am not small! You are just really, really tall!” His little brother chuckled a little bit at his outburst. He could tell that Edward had a long day or else his retort would have been more ridden with curses and other inappropriate language.

“Brother, you know that wasn’t what I meant,” Alphonse sighed. “Please, just try.”

“Fine.”

………….

Edward growled to himself as he walked into his chemistry class the next morning. Everyone was gathered around in small groups talking to their friends about stuff no one would ever care about. It was all gossip to them and Edward rolled his eyes as he made his way to his desk. He couldn’t believe his brother was making him do this. Jonathan and his friends were in all his classes. However, Edward still didn’t build himself up enough to actually go and apologize. He had to sit through several classes getting spit balls in the side of the head from the kid he was supposed to go apologize to. But, as it was the last class before lunch, Edward knew that this should have been it. Jonathan was laughing with his buddies, making belittling comments about some other person who was of Class C status. Edward sucked in a huge breath and walked over to him. Everyone in the entire room went quiet and he felt all eyes turn on him. Edward felt more nervous than he ever felt before. He really didn’t want to do this but Jonathan already saw him and gave him a rather nasty glare. His face was still black and blue from where Edward had punched him. But he had to admit, if he used his right hand it would have been way worse.

“Elric,” he said stiffly like his name was vomit.

“Okawa,” Edward mumbled the exact same way. The room felt tense but Edward knew he couldn’t back out now. Alphonse wanted him to do this, and really it was probably for the best. “Jonathan, I wanted to apologise for punching you in the face. It was… brash?” he said questionably. He didn’t really apologize much, especially to big headed idiots like Jonathan, so he really didn’t know how to say it. The kid scoffed at him.

“Plebian finally learning where his place is, more like it,” the kid growled. Edward felt his face heat up as the kid continued and his hand started to curl into a fist. “You know even apologizing won’t raise your status at all. You are always going to be thought of as a monster here. You’re just a little dog, a mutt. They can bite, they can bark, but they will always be a dog.” Edward had to force his right fist down with his left hand to prevent him from punching the kid another time. Alphonse just didn’t know how hard it was. All that he was able to say was that he tried.

“Alright… I just wanted to let you know,” Edward gritted through his teeth. He stiffly spun around and walked back over to his own seat. He plopped down in his chair and gripped the edges to try and keep him there. If he wasn’t holding on so hard, he might have just been expelled from school with all of the terrible things he wanted to do. He heard Jonathan and his friends laughing cruelly behind him and he smacked his head on his desk for being such an idiot. Good job, Alphonse. Now he was even worse off than before. Edward should have just ignored him. He shouldn’t have apologized at all.

“That was a really brave thing you did,” a voice said right next to him. Edward nearly jumped out of his seat at how close it was. He looked up to see a girl standing there, Hiromi. She looked rather nervous next to him as if she was still unsure whether he was really the First Year Typhoon or not. Edward never talked to her, only knowing her name from the attendance count that the teacher did every class, but he smiled gently up at her afraid of scaring her away.

“Uh, thanks… it didn’t really feel that brave at all,” Edward told her honestly. “I feel rather humiliated actually.” She smiled slightly in return for his modesty.

“Well, it is never easy to apologize to someone. I am sorry it didn’t work out too well though.”

“What are you sorry for? You didn’t have anything to do with it,” Edward replied softly. “I was the one who let him get the best of me.” There was a short silence between them as neither of them knew what to say or didn’t know how to say it. They never really talked to each other at all. In fact, Edward barely talked to anyone in his classes aside from those in the host club and that was because he was forced to. Hiromi smiled gently and twiddled her fingers nervously.

“I… I heard you were in the host club…,” she started to say.

“Oh… Yeah,” Edward muttered disheartenedly. If he had to listen to another girl refer to Tamaki as prince he would hurl. However, Hiromi seemed to be oblivious to his distaste and continued.

“I never went before… do you mind if I… request you at the meeting today?” Edward’s eyes widened as he realized what she was asking him. He didn’t even start getting clients yet. The host didn’t allow him to go out on the floor until they knew he was ready, or until he passed Tamaki’s stupid little lessons. For someone to request him already was a really big surprise to him.

“Uh… Um… sure,” Edward stumbled, still in light shock. “I don’t know if I will be able to talk to anyone today but… sure… why not?” Hiromi looked excited and relieved as she thanked him and scampered back to her desk in the front of the room where her other friends were waiting for her. They looked rather curious and started to pry information out of her to know what she said. Edward knew that most of the people there still didn’t like him, but he was glad that at least one person was willing to at least try and talk to him. He felt a hand rest on each of his shoulders and looked up. Haruhi was gleaming down at him.

“Looks like you got your first request.”

……………

Edward walked into the music room and carefully set his bags down in the corner and out of the way. People were already filing in to meet with their hosts when Edward felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Alright, my little soldier, ready for your last lesson?” He heard Tamaki say. Edward felt himself clench when he heard the word little but he forced himself to stifle his anger with a huge breath. He let it out with a hiss.

“Yeah, sure, why not?” he seethed.

“Very well! Today you will learn to be a host!” the man squealed with glee, causing Edward to groan. The other host were clapping their hands excitedly but it just sounded like a dirge. Edward just wanted this to be over with. He barely had enough time with the club and then work to do his homework. He wanted to ask Tamaki that day to cut their stupid tea party short so that he could work on his reports but it wasn’t going to happen, not now. Edward actually felt a growing pit in his stomach as he watched all of the waiting guests stare at him from across the room. They still thought he was a savage for most of the time. Their eyes held resentment in them, sheer disgust. Edward pulled lightly on the collar of his shirt to loosen it up a bit. It felt like it was choking him. Tamaki just swatted his hand away and tightened his collar twice as much as it was before.

“Now I heard that you already had a request. A Hiromi?” Tamaki said bubbly as if they were talking about a date.

“She’s in my chemistry class,” Edward told him plainly, nervousness boiling inside of him.

“So you are charming them already!” the man squealed as he pushed Edward roughly towards an empty table. It was covered in a tea set and some small cakes, all that were pink. Edward was shoved unceremoniously into one of the chairs as Hiromi sat across from him. Edward looked around for someone to help him but the other club members were just watching from afar to see how he fared. Haruhi was motioning for him to pick up small talk, something he wasn’t good at in the least. He didn’t know women, he barely even knew his mechanic. Edward gulped nervously as he looked back to where Hiromi was sitting patiently. She had a small smile on her face and didn’t seem to be in any rush for conversation. Edward straightened out his tie a little bit where it became tousled from his scuffling and weakly cleared his throat.

“Uh… hi,” he said dumbly, silently cursing himself for sounding so stupid. He heard the Hitachi twins behind him snicker between each other as they watched him. He felt like he was on a stage, something he was never good with unless he wanted to be. In that moment, he definitely did not want to be.

“Hello,” Hiromi replied quietly as if she was holding a normal conversation. Which she actually was. Edward, however, became real nervous even though he knew he talked to her in class. It shouldn’t have been that hard. However through his small panic he noticed that Hiromi pulled out her book bag that she carried with her.

“You are in the advanced math class, yes?” she asked him timidly. Edward nodded his head unable to actually speak at that moment. Hiromi pulled out her notebook and handed it to him, scooting the small chair around the table next to his. “I… I know it isn’t really a thing for the host club to do but… would you mind helping me with the homework? Maybe we can get to know each other if we work together.”

“Uh, I actually didn’t get to the homework yet, but that’s a good idea,” Edward mumbled as he was surprised one of the elite students actually took their work seriously. With how much he saw people just hanging around in crowded rooms, he thought that maybe most of the kids just used school as a social gathering.

“You didn’t get it done? If not in study hall when do you do your work?” she asked, taken back.

“I work on my reports for the Colonel during study hall. With how late work runs usually I have to stay up pretty late to do my school papers,” Edward told her. “Don’t get much sleep which really bothers my brother.”

“Would you mind helping me then? Maybe if we both do it… you could get it done too?” she asked hopefully. Edward stared at her amazed.

“Uh… sure.” He quickly pick up his own school bag and withdrew his notebooks and pens. The girl scooted closer to him so she could see what he was doing. “Derivatives?” Edward asked as he looked at her notebook. She nodded her head and he chuckled a little bit as he felt some of his worry wash away with the introduction of complex equations. “Don’t worry these get quite fun once you know how to do them. You’ll be an ace in 5 minutes.” Hiromi giggled at the casual compliment and Edward leaned over to review the assignment. A few minutes into teaching her, true to his word, she got the hang of it. She still asked him to look over some of her answers but for the most part she was on her own.

“See? You’re a natural.”

“This is amazing,” she muttered in disbelief as they both pushed their completed homework away from them. Edward was really glad that he got it done as that was one less thing he had to worry about at home. “I heard a rumor that you didn’t go to school before this. Is that true?” she questioned him.

“Yeah,” Edward answered. “I mean, when I was little I went for basic learning like kindergarten but my brother and I never really paid attention to the teachers. We were always reading our own studies under the desks,” he chuckled lightly remembering back to when they were little. Their bags would always be full of random texts and their homework would be turned in before the day was even over. “The teacher would always get so mad. But eventually we just stopped going.”

“Didn’t your mother have anything to say about it?” the girl asked quietly and Edward frowned as he looked down at the ground for a minute trying to imagine what to say. Hiromi seemed to sense his discomfort and tried to apologize for her question but he waved her off gently.

“No, its just… our mother passed away when I was little and… well that was kind of the reason we stopped going,” he muttered. “We kept our studies up of course. We read and everything, even found a specialist to learn under but it really just wasn’t the same. It surely wasn’t anything like this.”

“Is… Is that why you joined the military?” Edward heard another voice ask. He nearly jumped out of his seat as he looked behind him to see a few more clients had gathered around the table to listen to him talk. His face grew bright red as he saw all of them were staring at him expectantly, waiting for the end of his story.

“Uh… um…. No. I needed surgery when I was 11 and well… my friends were doctors so they did it but I wanted to pay them back and… well… I joined the military after so I could repay them and help my brother and everything….-” Edward stuttered trying to come up with a reason off the top of his head. They were all true in various ways, just not the whole truth of course. He felt like his body was overheating from embarrassment as all of the girls seemed to oogle over his story. Luckily for him the bell rang which signaled the end of the party. While all the clients seemed upset that they had to go Edward was secretly cheering to be out of the crowd.

“Do you mind if we request you next time?” another girl asked.

“Sure,” Edward said just imagining the chaos day after day. The girls quietly left the room and Edward let out a huge breath of air, tired but finally free. Talking to people, especially easily unsettled rich people, was exhausting. Taking a note to give the Host club a tip for how well they were able to talk to people without upsetting them, he got up from the table and quickly shoved his notebooks in his bag.

“Edward," he heard Haruhi behind him, "Is that true?" He took a short pause in his packing along with a breath.

"Yes, why would I lie about that?" he asked. He slung his satchel over his shoulder and turned around. All of the hosts were crowding around him with wide eyes, obviously wanting to learn more about their newest member. However, Edward wasn't willing to open up anymore that day. He had work to get to and he just didn't have the time to waste on such nonsense. He sighed as he picked up his duffle bag and headed towards the changing rooms.

"I need to go. See you all tomorrow," he huffed and with a quick change into his uniform, he left without another word to the club.

………..


End file.
